Love from Beyond
by Elizabeth4510
Summary: Hermions has died in a freak accidnet and everyone is attending her funeral. Little do they know she is also attending, listening to their confessions.
1. Ron's Confession

I do not own these characters...JKR does...:D

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter stood in their room, putting the last of their somber attire on. Ron fumbled with his tie, his fingers seemingly numb as he attempted to create a knot. Frustrated, he stopped, rubbing his eyes as if tired to hide the tears that were forming. Harry looked at him, tears of his own forming behind his trademark glasses.  
"It'll be okay, Ron," he said, not really believing himself. He sat on the bed and swallowed the lump forming. Ron looked at him, his face flushed from silent crying.  
"You don't understand, Harry," he said, looking out the window to the courtyard below. Masses of students from every house were dressed in dark colors. There were no bright Gryffindor oranges or Slytherin greens to be seen, only a sea of black and gray.  
"Ron, I do understand. You liked her. We all did. She was a great person," Harry said, trying to comfort Ron the best he could. Harry knew the pain of losing a loved one. He had lost both his parents not long after birth. Since he couldn't remember them very well however, the death of Hermione hit him pretty hard also. He remembered the day he had met both of his best friends. They had helped fill a void he had felt for so long.  
"No, Harry," Ron said, walking over to the bed, "It wasn't just that I liked her. I loved her, and I never got to tell her that and now she is gone. I just don't understand how someone so smart could mess up such a simple potion. She knew the differnce between dragon's blood and mermaid blood." Anger was entering his voice, anger directed toward Hermione's mind slip. Harry looked at Ron, knowing he was right. Hermione was the smartest girl in their level, probably even the entire school of Hogwarts, not including Dumbledore himself. She had had a bright future ahead of her and now it was gone.   
"I know, Ron. Why don't you try telling her at the funeral? Maybe she is a ghost now and attending it with Moaning Myrtle," he said, smiling weakly. Ron just stared at him, grief stricken pain across his face.  
"Come on. We're going to be late," Ron said, walking slowly out of the room through the chamber opening. Harry rose from the bed and followed slowly, thinking of what he would say at Hermione's funeral also.

Hermione watched from Harry's bed as the boys walked out of the room. She smiled, thining about what Ron had said. She quickly rose silently from the bed and followed the boys down the changing staircases to her funeral. She shook her head, playing the phrase over in her mind. " Her funeral." She walked past the potraits that smiled sadly as she walked past. She smiled back and continued on her way, gliding past groups of people that were all crying or talking about her. Unlike the other ghosts at Hogwarts, Hermione was still invisible to others. She would stay that way for some time. Even though she was invisible, the other ghosts and painting could still see her as well as Dumbledore for he could see everything.

This is my first fanfic so please be nice! Please read and review!!!! And i know its short but it seemed ALOT longer....


	2. Hermione Remembers

The boys walked across the courtyard, unknowing of the ghostly friend they had following them. Groups of people watched them walking by, some smiling slightly as if to say "it will be okay." Draco Malfoy walked up to Ron and Harry with his toadies Crabbe and Goyle. Harry felt his chest tighten and saw Ron's fist clench, ready for some type of rude Muddblood comment. Draco's blond hair hung slightly over his eyes. His head was down as he stopped in front of them.  
  
"Hey Ron, Harry," he said haltingly, seeming to not really know what to say to his main enemies at the school. Crabbe wiped at his chunky face with his sleeve. By doing this Harry looked and realized that the usually rude trio was crying.  
  
"Hey Draco," Harry said softly. Ron looked at him as if to say "Why are you talking to him." Draco looked up from the ground; his blue eyes brimmed with tears.  
  
"I never really hated her you know," he said, looking away as tears flowed more freely. Harry nodded slowly, remembering how many times Draco had almost caused Hermione to cry by calling her a Muddblood or a dirty blooded wizard in Muggle-speak.  
  
"She just annoyed me because of how smart she was. My father wanted me to be as smart as her and I wasn't," Draco said, looking at Harry solemnly. Harry pushed his glasses up, nodding. Draco's father, Lucius, did seem like the type of father to push good grades and be a perfectionist. Draco wasn't a good student but Lucius didn't care. Being less than perfect was not an option in the Malfoy family.  
  
"Try telling her at the funeral," Harry said, shrugging, not really knowing how to reply to his once enemy, now somewhat of a comrade in pain and grief.  
  
Draco nodded slowly, looking back to the ground and walking away with Crabbe and Goyle in silent tow.  
  
Ron looked at Harry in amazement, his eyebrows raised.  
  
"Did that really just happen," he asked as they continued on their way to the Great Hall. "I think so, Ron. Maybe Malfoy isn't as bad as we think he is. Seems like his father is what causes a lot of Draco's meanness," Harry said as they entered the Great Hall foyer along with other groups of kids, all talking softly among themselves.  
  
Ron shrugged, "Maybe." He looked around at all the people, never really realizing how popular Hermione was until now. Many people, teachers included, often came to her for help in things, from life to help with homework. He saw his sister Ginny sitting on a bench alone.  
  
"I'm going to go talk to Ginny. Save me a seat," Ron said, walking over to the bench. Harry went into the Hall. The ceiling, one of Hermione's favorite features of the school, had a sunny sky with doves flying through the air. Garlands of white and pink roses floated along the pillars. The table had been changed to seating for all the students. It was already getting crowded with students from every year and every house. No one was wearing their house colors though. Death had brought them all to the same level.  
  
Harry sat down on a pew seat and watched as teachers walked to the front and sat in the pews closest to the coffin. It was a pearly white with gold trim. Harry could see Hermione's still profile. Her long brown hair lay out around her head like a pillow. Harry watched as Hagrid, the large gamekeeper walked up to the coffin, clutching a small white handkerchief to his burly red nose. Hagrid broke down is loud bellowing sobs. Harry knew that Hagrid had loved Hermione like a daughter. He looked around, wondering what Ron and Ginny were talking about.  
  
Hermione sat next to Ginny Weasley on the bench, listening to the sibling's conversation. Ginny was wearing a short black skirt over black tights with a gray sweater. She was holding Ron's hand as they softly spoke.  
  
"Are you going to be okay," she asked softly, looking at her older brother with concern. She, as well as everyone else, knew how much Ron had loved Hermione. Ron nodded slowly, swallowing hard. Ginny tucked her hair behind her slightly large ears and squeezed Ron's hand.  
  
"It's just weird," he said, staring out the window as snow started to fall. "She knew better. Do you honestly think that the smartest girl in our school would make such a silly mistake? There is just something that is not right here." Hermione nodded from her unseen seat on the other side of Ginny. She wished could communicate to her friends that someone had switched the dragon's blood for the mermaid's blood when she was making her potion. She wished she could tell them who had done it, who had ended her life. She closed her eyes, trying to send a mental message to her friends. Maybe she could connect with someone who truly loved her.  
  
"What is someone killed her," Ron said, looking at Ginny. Her eyes widened in shock.  
  
"Why would someone do that though," she asked, "Everyone liked her."  
  
"I know," he said, "Everyone except Draco. He hated her. He even admitted it to Harry and I not even 10 minutes ago outside. He said that she annoyed him because she was so smart." Anger was entering his voice. Hermione shook her head. It wasn't Draco, she thought. Hermione frowned, remembering her final thoughts as she lay dying in the potions room.  
  
The person smiled down at her menacingly.  
  
"Oh, silly little Hermione. If you would have looked at the blood before you poured it in, you would have saw that I switched them. Everyone knows that mermaid's blood is blue and dragon's blood is almost black. I guess you just forgot to check first." The person grinned and shrugged as if to say "Oh well." Hermione gasped, holding her throat, feeling it close up. She stumbled backwards, tumbling over a stool. Falling to the floor, she choked, feeling her air supply fading. The mermaid's blood made the potion into one that let you breathe only underwater. She felt her body start to die. Her lungs were burning.  
  
The person laughed, dancing madly around the room in circles. Hermione watched in disbelief as this crazy girl watched her die. Tears formed in her eyes. The girl panicked when she saw the tears. She leaned down, wiping them away.  
  
"You can't cry. If the tears get in your mouth, you will be able to breathe. We don't want that now, do we," the girl said, almost lovingly. Hermione closed her eyes, her life fading. The next thing she remembered was sitting next to her body as Ron and Harry found her. They had tried to revive her with magic but it was already too late. Dumbledore had led them away, looking at her ghost in that way he always does. The young ghost knew what had to happen now. 


	3. Luna's Confession

Ron and Ginny walked into the crowded Hall and sat next to Harry on one of the benches. The ghostly Hermione sat next to Harry on the other side, searching wildly for the girl who that had switched the blood.  
  
Hermione remembered that the girl had had a small silver flask with an ornate mermaid emblem on the front. The flask, Hermione presumed, was filled with the mermaid blood that she had added to the potion. Hermione had been in the potion's class after every one had left, working on a potion to help her straighten her hair. She didn't want people to know how much it really bothered her. Usually she was so careful when she mixed potions but that day, her mind had been elsewhere. She had been thinking about Ron.  
  
She smiled, looking at him. His cheeks were flushed from crying and his eyes were bloodshot. Hermione wished she could tell him how she felt. She wished she could hold him hand in hers, just intertwining her tiny fingers with his freckled ones. Maybe she still would, she thought.  
  
A group of girls walked in, their voices a bit louder than most. Hermione looked over and caught a glance of one she recognized that walked slightly behind the girls, off to herself. Hermione got up and followed the group as they sat down.  
  
"Why would someone do this to her," one of the girls said. Hermione recognized her as a Ravenclaw, as was the rest of the group. The girl that had hung back a bit sat with the group, still a bit off to herself. "She was such a sweet girl. It is such a shame."  
  
"Is it," the loner girl said, her voice biting sharply. "Maybe Hermione was just stupid for once. Maybe little Ms. Perfect just messed up for once in her life. For once in her perfect little life," the girl said, causing gasps and stares to follow from the group and from Hermione herself.  
  
Why would Luna hate her so much? What had she ever done to her? Hermione looked down and saw Luna holding the flask with the mermaid on it, rubbing slowly. Hermione's eyes teared up, remembering how she had tried to help Luna in classes. She has taken the younger girl under her wing really, trying to help her find friends.  
  
Luna was a quiet girl, with frizzy blond hair, that didn't have any real friends. People talked to her but no one was friends with her. Hermione, being the good person she was, had only tried to help. Look where it had gotten her.  
  
"Luna, what are you saying," one of the girls asked, her eyes getting wide in disbelief. All of the other girls stared at her, waiting for her explanation to her outburst.  
  
Luna just stared at them, her mouth gaping like a fish out of water. She shook her head, not saying anything really. Hermione stared along with the group in disbelief. One of the girls got up and walked over to another group, leaning in to whisper something. The boy, a tall Gryffindor looked over at Luna in shock. It was moving quickly as he leaned over to a girl sitting next to him.  
  
Luna got up and walked quickly out of the Hall as Dumbledore walked in. He looked down at her sadly; his usual twinkling eyes slightly teared up. He shook his head slowly. Luna's lips began to tremble as the flask with mermaid's blood slipped from her fingers. The sound echoed on the stone floor, reverberating in the now silent Great Hall. Every one was staring, some shaking their heads, others crying openly.  
  
Ginny leaned over to Harry. "I just heard that Luna s the one who killed Hermione. Why would she do that? Hermione was her friend," she said, her red hair falling in her face. Ron turned and looked at Dumbledore as he led Luna out of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall rose from the front row and quickly followed, her trademark long skirts billowing as she ran out the door, following Dumbledore.  
  
Hermione also followed, her footsteps silent in the empty hallways. Several times she fell behind but Dumbledore always slowed down, letting her catch up. Even though she was but a ghost and no one could see her, Dumbledore could. The group arrived at the doorway to Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Pickled Peppermints," he said sadly, the large bird opening its wings for them. Everyone got into the "bird elevator" and stood awkwardly as it rose to his office. Luna was crying silently, clutching her mermaid flask tightly like a security blanket.  
  
"Come along everyone. Let's talk," Dumbledore said, walking into his candlelit office. "We have many things to discuss. Many things." 


End file.
